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Ainslie: Extended lead
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GB sailing champion Ben Ainslie extended his advantage in the Finn class in a disrupted day at the Olympic regatta on Wednesday.
Just one of the two scheduled Finn races were completed because of light winds in Qingdao.
The British competitor finished second - with nearest overall pursuer Zach Railey only seventh - behind Croatia's Ivan Kljakovic Gaspic.
The result saw Ainslie, who is chasing a third successive Olympic gold, extend his overall advantage over Railey to six points.
There are now just three races to complete of the 10 in the series before Saturday's medal race.
Two are scheduled for Thursday with organisers set to rule if Wednesday's postponed eighth race will be staged.
"We left the dock at 11am so it's been a good six hours on the water," said a weary Ainslie on returning to dry land after being left, like the rest of the fleet, frustrated as race officials waited in vain for the breeze to pick up late afternoon.
Relieved
But the Brit, who was a gold medal winner in the Laser in 2000 before taking the Finn title in Athens four years ago, added: "It could have been a lot worse.
"In those conditions anything could have happened, but I'm relieved to have come away with a good result.
"A six-point lead is really nothing in these conditions... so still a long way to go."
Railey was also relieved to maintain his pursuit of Ainslie after a "disastrous first downwind" leg left him struggling in mid-division.
"I feel really fortunate to get seventh," he said. "It all went wrong."
The conditions meant the Yngling, Laser and Laser Radial classes also only managed just one race on Wednesday, although a full programme was completed in the 49er and 470 fleets.
Yngling battle
The British and Dutch Yngling teams continued their battle for gold with five points separating them after seven races.
Britain's Sarah Ayton, Sarah Webb and Pippa Wilson hold the advantage after a second place on Wednesday, two places better than Mandy Mulder, Annemieke Bes and Merel Witteveen.
Meanwhile in the men's 470, Australia's Nathan Wilmot and Malcolm Page extended their lead to seven points over France's Nicolas Charbonnier and Olivier Bausset.
The Australian triple world champions, only 12th at Athens, have not won a race in Qingdao but have been remarkably consistent with a worst finish of seventh in the six races to date.
